Systems and methods for data brick creation and use

ABSTRACT

Data Brick is a state of the art solution to access the data through high speed data access mechanism that is exceptionally fast and is associated with low CPU consumption cost. The Data Brick stores relatively static reference data in the form of a programming language Load Module. The Load module contains the data can be launched into the application program memory and this data can be accessed very efficiently in a programming language program. Static application data that is accessed by multiple applications in a mainframe Batch environment is a prime candidate for the Data Brick.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure generally relates to accessing data, and moreparticularly, to systems and methods for improving the efficiency offile processing in terms of CPU cost reduction and I/O processing.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Despite innovations leading to more robust and efficient computingsystems and software, the role of mainframe computing remains vital tomany businesses and organizations. In most cases, mainframe computingsystems that are in use today were originally implemented prior to thecomputing innovations of the 1980's and 1990's. However, many businessesand organizations have concluded that it would be too expensive and toointrusive to day-to-day business operations to upgrade their majorsystems to newer technologies. Therefore, to enable continued expansionof computing infrastructures to take advantage of newer technologies,much effort has been devoted to developing ways to integrate oldermainframe technologies with newer server and component basedtechnologies. For instance, COBOL is one of the oldest programminglanguages. It is a legacy language in use by many organizations. Itsname is an acronym for Common Business-Oriented Language, defining itsprimary domain in business, finance, and administrative systems forcompanies and governments.

Traditionally, the mainframe batch application programs access data(static or dynamic) through input datasets. These processing routinesare typically opened, read, and closed to access and transfer data froma database. Stated another way, the traditional mainframe applicationdevelopers access data for use in a program via the file input/output(I/O). Application developers have not attempted to efficiently accessstatic data via application data loaded into an application program.

The aforementioned traditional process involves high consumption of I/Oprocessing and high CPU cost for accessing the data through thedatasets. Therefore, a need exists for a system and method forincreasing computing efficiency and speed within a mainframeenvironment.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

These above disclosed needs are successfully met via the disclosedsystem and method. For instance, the present system and method improvesefficiency of the file processing in terms of CPU cost reduction andreduction of I/O processing. In the present system, a Data Brick (loadmodule) is created and/or loaded by the system into the applicationprogram memory.

In various embodiments, a system may include a processor configured tocreate a load module, a tangible, non-transitory memory configured tocommunicate with the processor, the tangible, non-transitory memoryhaving instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by theprocessor, cause the processor to perform to create a load module. Theseoperations may include, for example, identifying files stored in adataset to be stored in the load module for retrieval. These operationsmay also include reading files to be used by an application program intoa load module creation program. Furthermore, these operations mayinclude creating, by the processor, a contiguous record of the files.These operations may include assembling the record of the files in thetext record in the object module. These operations may include writingthe object module via a link edit command. Also, these operations mayinclude compiling, by the processor, the created object module in to theload module.

In various embodiments, in response to creation of the load module, thedata may not be accessed from the dataset. Instead, this data may beaccessed directly from the load module. Also, in response to creation ofthe load module the data is not accessed from the dataset via open,read, or close commands. This system may eliminate contention occurringin response to a plurality of programs concurrently accessing the datastored in a dataset as the load module may be accessed concurrently by aplurality of programs.

In various embodiments, access of the data via the load module is moreefficient as compared with direct access of the data stored in thedataset. Also, this system results in a reduction of Input/Outputprocessing by accessing the data via the load module as compared withaccess of the data stored in the dataset. This system may comprise aheader record including the first record is the electronic softwaredelivery header record containing the load module name, followed by twoapplication headers, followed by the contiguous record of data to bestored in the load module (e.g. the data to be accessed). The loadmodule may be stored in an application load library.

In various embodiments, assembling the record of the data in the textrecord in the object module, further comprises loading the load modulecopybook with the data. In various embodiments, though it may be codedin any suitable programming language, the system is coded in COBOL.

In various embodiments, the system may comprise storing, by a computerbased system for retrieving data, data in a text record of an objectmodule of a load module. This system may access the load module via aprocedure pointer. This system may assign a load module copybook to theaddress of the load module and load the load module copybook with thedata.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present disclosure may be derivedby referring to the detailed description and claims when considered inconnection with the Figures and Tables, wherein like reference numbersrefer to similar elements throughout the Figures, and:

FIG. 1 is a combination block diagram and flowchart illustrating anexemplary architecture for data brick creation and implementationaccording to various embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a view of exemplary dataimplementation according to various embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of various exemplary embodiments herein makesreference to the accompanying drawings and pictures, which show theexemplary embodiment by way of illustration. While these exemplaryembodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilledin the art to practice the disclosure, it should be understood thatother embodiments may be realized and that logical and mechanicalchanges may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure. Thus, the detailed description herein is presented forpurposes of illustration only and not of limitation. For example, thesteps recited in any of the method or process descriptions may beexecuted in any order and are not limited to the order presented.Moreover, any of the functions or steps may be outsourced to orperformed by one or more third parties. Furthermore, any reference tosingular includes plural embodiments, and any reference to more than onecomponent may include a singular embodiment.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments”, “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

In general, a Data Brick 101 is a new method of storing and accessingprogram data. The Data Brick 101 is designed to allow high speed accessto data with exceptionally low CPU consumption cost. A Data Brick 101 isintended to be used for relatively static reference data, as opposed todata which is frequently updated. Data Bricks 101 can be read by aprogram (such as a COBOL program) through, for instance, use of a“SEARCH ALL” verb. In various embodiments, a Data Brick 101 may bemapped by the program through the use of a standard LINKAGE copybook.

In operation, a file of static data previously stored to a databasewhich is read or would be read by multiple batch jobs is identified.This data is appropriate for the Data Brick 101 system.

A Data Brick 101 may be created from any data source. In some cases,depending on the programming language, a constraint may be the size ofthe file. For instance, 16 MB is the largest Data Brick 101 which can becreated in COBOL, due to COBAL load module being limited in size to 16MB. In various embodiments, the input file is a fixed length flat file.The Data Brick 101 creation process is accomplished using Job ControlLanguage (JCL). A JCL is a scripting language used on mainframeoperating systems (such as the IBM mainframe operating systems) toinstruct the system on how to run a batch job or start a subsystem. Invarious embodiments, a JCL reads the input file, processes the data, andwrites a load module to a specified load library. As discussed below,this Data Brick 101 is ready from consumption.

A Data Brick 101 is a physical load module. A typical load modulecontains a compiled program with calls to secondary data stores androutines; however, the Data Brick 101 (load module) contains the datawith no additional calls to secondary data stores and outside routines.A standard load module has an entry point, which is the first programinstruction to be executed. A Data Brick 101 load module also has anentry point; it is the first byte of the data.

The Data Brick 101 creation process includes reading the static datainto a single contiguous working storage item in the Data Brick creationprogram 102 (such as a COBOL program). For instance, though anyprogramming language may be used, in various embodiments, the Data Brickcreation program 102 places the static application data into the COBOLobject module layout, and writes out an output file which looks like anObject module created in the compilation process. The first recordwritten out by the Data Brick creation program 102 may be an ESD record.In this record, the name of the Data Brick 101 is coded, and the rest ofthe ESD record is kept intact. This record may be the first record inthe Brick Load module 103. The same rules that are used during thecompilation process are used while creating the Data Brick 101. Otherapplication header records may be written while creating Data Brick 101.These may contain reference information, such as the job that createdthe Data Brick 101. A text record essentially holds the application datain the Data Brick 101. In general, there is a constraint of 56 bytesavailable to hold the application data within the structure of the textrecord, the rest of the text record is not used. The Data Brick creationprogram 102 fills up the 56 bytes with application data and writes outeach text record, this happens until all the application data held inone long record is written out into the multiple text records, with eachtext record containing 56 bytes of data. Finally, a trailer record iswritten which typically contains the total record count info. The outputfile written out by the Brick creation program 102 is distinct from, butsimilar to, the Object module created in a compilation process. Theoutput file written out by the Brick creation program 102 consists ofthe static application data. The object module is then link edited toproduce a Load Module called the Data Brick 101.

Data Brick 101 will be moved to the Application Load Library and will beavailable for consumption to all or a subset of all of the applicationprograms. To consume the Data Brick 101, the application program usesthe Procedure Pointer to get the addressability of the specific DataBrick 101, and then assign the Brick copybook to the address of the DataBrick 101. In response to the Brick copybook being loaded with the data,the Brick copybook may be available for used by the application program(such as a COBOL application program). The application program could useSEARCH ALL verb to access the Data Brick 101 in an efficient manner.

Because Data Brick 101 is stored as a load module, programs can directlycall Data Brick 101 using some programming language statements that areunlikely to have been used historically to access data. Once the DataBrick 101 is called, COBOL will load (place) the Data Brick 101 datainto the linkage section of application program. The application programgenerally contains a copy book which will map the data in Data Brick101.

This system reduces the I/O and cost of file or dataset access.Historically, several techniques have been implemented to speed up thefile processing and reduce the associated cost, but the current systemsolves the problem from a totally different dimension. This system shunsthe file access through the dataset I/O operations such as the Open,Read, and Close. Stated another way, I/O operations such as the Open,Read, and Close are not used to access or load Data Brick 101 data.Using this system, Data Brick 101 is created and/or Data Brick 101 datais stored within the application Load Module. As needed, the contents ofthe Load modules are loaded into the application program memory toaccess the data very efficiently. The application Load Modules typicallycontain the executable instructions of an application program, but inthis innovation, static application data is stored within a load modulefor access. Compared to the traditional methods, this static applicationdata may be accessed much faster and with out the need for additionalI/O operation steps.

This system reduces file access I/O, reduces the file access costs,decreases the job elapsed times, increases the job throughput, decreasesstorage costs, and also removes the job contentions while accessing thesame datasets. Contrary to conventional wisdom, which is to improve thefile access through various innovations such as the accessing the datathrough the EQSAM datasets, and faster DASD etc., this systemunconventionally accesses the application data through the applicationLoad modules or Data Bricks 101 rather than read the data through thefile I/O. Typically, the Load modules are created through thecompilation process and the applications are forbidden to write into theLoad modules. The present system challenges the traditional thoughtprocess by making the application process create the Load modules andplace the application data within the Load module (in the text record)in the Data Brick 101 and access the data as quickly as one could accessthe Load module instructions.

For example, Table 1 is an exemplary JCL to create Data Brick 101.

TABLE 1 //BRICKJOB JOB (U,1011),‘BRICK ’, //MSGLEVEL=(1,1),MSGCLASS=Q,TIME=1,NOTIFY=&SYSUID //*//CRTTXT EXEC PGM=NPTT87B //* //STEPLIB DDDSN=TH0CT.PZVP.UBATLOAD,DISP=SHR // DDDSN=TH0CT.I1CICS.V22C.PXX.NRNTLOAD,DISP=SHR //SYSPRINT DD SYSOUT=*//UCTLCARD DD DSN=TH0CT.PZVP.UCTLCARD(UCTLCARD),DISP=SHR //INFILE DDDSN=TH0CT.SSE.INFILE,DISP=SHR //OUTFILE DD DSN=TH0CT.OUTFILE,DISP=SHR//* //LINK EXEC PGM=IEWL, //PARM=‘MAP,LET,LIST,XREF,AMODE(31),RHODE(ANY),RENT’ //* //SYSLIN DD DSN=PD5544A.OUTFILE,DISP=SHR // DD  DDNAME=SYSIN //SYSLMOD DDDSN=TH0CT.PZVP*.UBATLOAD, DISP=SHR //SYSUT1 DD DSN=&&SYSUT1,SPACE=(1024,(120,120),,,ROUND), //  UNIT=SYSALLDA,BUFNO=1//SYSPRINT DD  SYSOUT=*

The Brick load module may be placed into the specified UBATLOAD library.When creating a new Data Brick 101, strong consideration should be givento the update frequency of the source data. If the source data is a DB2table, the Brick creation process JCL may be added to the job whichupdates the table, or the Brick creation process can be a new job, whichuses the DB2 update job as a predecessor in JOBTRAC. It may also beappropriate to add an ADHOC batch job for the Brick creation process.

The Brick load module may contain metadata. In various embodiments,there are three header records which provide this information. The firstheader record may contains an accurate count of the number of recordsread from the input file, the LRECL of the input file, and data from theUCTLCARD. Header-2 may contains information regarding the Job whichcreated the Brick, along with the step names and a timestamp. Header-3may provides the name of the input file, and the creation date of thefile.

The header records are standard for all Brick copybooks. The applicationdata may be defined in an array following the headers. A variable lengthcopybook (ODO) may be configured to take advantage of a BRICK-REC-COUNTfield stored in the first header record. Data Brick 101 application datamay be ordered in a manner which allows a Binary Search to be performed(SEARCH ALL). The use of a serial search (SEARCH) may be accomplishedbut may result in lower performance as compared with a binary search.The data may be sorted on the key prior to Data Brick 101 creationprocess.

A control card may be used to create Data Brick 101. The control cardmay reside in the UCTLCARD library. Data Brick 101 creation processreads the first line of the control card. The remaining lines can beused as comments.

Table 2 is an exemplary program to load, address, and search Data Brick101.

TABLE 2 IDENTIFICATION DIVISION. PROGRAM-ID. BRICKSSE. ENVIRONMENTDIVISION. INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION. FILE-CONTROL. DATA DIVISION. FILESECTION. WORKING-STORAGE SECTION. 01 LT-BRICK PIC X(8) VALUE ‘NBTPSSE’.01 WS-BRICK-ENTRY-ADDR PROCEDURE-POINTER. 01 WS-BRICK-TABLE-ADDRREDEFINES WS-BRICK-ENTRY-ADDR POINTER. 01 WS-BRICK-BIN-ADDR REDEFINESWS-BRICK-TABLE-ADDR PIC S9(8) COMP. 01 MISC-DATA. 05SSE-RFRN-PRNT-SE-NBR PIC X(10). 05 SSE-RFRN-SUBM-SE-NBR PIC X(10). 05SSE-CODE-SE-RLSH-TYPE PIC X(3).  LINKAGE SECTION.  01 NTCSSELD. 05BRICK-HEADER. 10 BRICK-REG-COUNT PIC 9(8) COMP. 10 BRICK-DCB-LRECL PIC9(4) COMP. 10 BRICK-DATA-SOURCE PIC X(20). 10 BRICK-KEY-LOC PIC S9(2)COMP. 10 BRICK-KEY-LEN PIC S9(2) COMP. 10 FILLER PIC X(26).  05BRICK-HEADER-2. 10 BRICK-JOB-NAME PIC X(8). 10 BRICK-STEP-NAME PIC X(8).10 BRICK-PROC-STEP-NAME PIC X(8). 10 BRICK-BUILD-DATE PIC 9(8). 10BRICK-BUILD-TIME PIC 9(8). 10 FILLER PIC X(16).  05 BRICK-HEADER-3. 10BRICK-INFILE-DSN PIC X(44). 10 BRICK-INFILE-CREATE-DATE PIC X(6). 10FILLER PIC X(6).  05 SSE-ELEMENT OCCURS 1 TO 30000 TIMES  DEPENDING ONBRICK-REC-COUNT  ASCENDING KEY IS BRI-SSE-RFRN-PRNT-SE-NBRBRI-SSE-RFRN-SUBM-SE-NBR  BRI-SSE-CODE-SE-RLSH-TYPE INDEXED BY SSE-IDX.10 BRI-SSE-RFRN-PRNT-SE-NBR PIC X(10). 10 BRI-SSE-RFRN-SUBM-SE-NBR PICX(10). 10 BRI-SSE-CODE-SE-RLSH-TYPE PIC X(3). PROCEDURE DIVISION. * Thefollowing statement loads the brick into memory SET WS-BRICK-ENTRY-ADDRTO ENTRY LT-BRICK. * The following statement maps Brick copybook to theBrick SET ADDRESS OF NTCSSELD TO WS-BRICK-TABLE-ADDR. PERFORM SEARCH-ITSTOP RUN. SEARCH-IT. SEARCH ALL SSE-ELEMENT AT END DISPLAY ‘SEARCHFAILED’ WHEN BRI-SSE-RFRN-PRNT-SE-NBR (SSE-IDX) = SSE-RFRN-PRNT-SE-NBR AND BRI-SSE-RFRN-SUBM-SE-NBR (SSE-IDX) = SSE-RFRN-SUBM-SE-NBR  ANDBRI-SSE-CODE-SE-RLSH-TYPE (SSE-IDX) = SSE-CODE-SE-RLSH-TYPE DISPLAY‘SEARCH SUCCESSFUL ’ END-SEARCH.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, the systemmay be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onproduct, upgraded software, a stand alone system, a distributed system,a method, a data processing system, a device for data processing, and/ora computer program product. Accordingly, the system may take the form ofan entirely software embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, orvarious embodiments combining aspects of both software and hardware.Furthermore, the system may take the form of a computer program producton a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium havingcomputer-readable program code means embodied in the storage medium. Anysuitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized, includinghard disks, CD-ROM, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices,and/or the like.

Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplary Data Brick 101 creation and usage flowchart is depicted. In step 110, application files, which may comprisestatic application data, are identified. In step 115, these identifiedapplication files are read into the Brick creation program 102. As shownin step 120, the Brick creation program 102 reads in the records andcreates a single record. Using blocks of bytes, (depending on theprogramming language, for instance 56 bytes for COBOL) are moved intothe detail records in the Object Module. The first record is the EntrySequenced Data (ESD) header record containing the brick identifier,(i.e. brick name), followed by 2 application headers followed by thedetail records. After the detail records are written, the trailer recordis written which contains the number of detailed records written. Insome embodiments (depending on the programming language used) Data Brick101 may be up to 16 MB in size. In step 125, the object module iswritten out. In step 130, the Object module undergoes Link Edit toproduce the load module which comprises Data Brick 101. This load modulemay be compiled (step 135). The load module (Data Brick 101) isavailable for consumption. (step 140). Steps 145 and 155 depict variousbatch jobs (150, 151, 152) accessing Data Brick 101 by loading the loadmodule into memory for use by the batch job.

Stated another way, working storage (variable size) of the load moduleapplication is directly loaded with the static data. Thus, the loadmodule comprises all of the static data. The load module does not usefile I/O to access the identified static data. Stated another way, aprogram running the Data Brick 101 system does not access a database forinformation using the open, read, and close commands. Thus, the amountof calls are greatly reduced using one or more Data Bricks in anapplication.

In various embodiments, using the Data Brick 101 System, the load modulemay contain those executable instructions needed to transfer theidentified static data stored in the data brick (load module) to theprogram accessing Data Brick 101.

A search for the appropriate record may be facilitated by leveraging theBinary Search capability. Thus, this system eliminates the need to readthe static application data via datasets (e.g. opening, reading, andclosing to I/O statements). Using this system, Data Brick 101 may becreated and/or loaded into the application program memory and accessed.This accessing of data may be from the from the program memory insteadof a dataset and/or database table.

This system helps application modules (such as COBOL applicationmodules) to access static application data in an efficient manner.Typically, the application programs (such as COBOL application programs)read the static application data through input/output datasets eithersequentially or using an index. Historically, in response to the staticapplication data being accessed across multiple programs and batch jobs,high I/O processing requests and associated CPU costs are incurred.Through this innovation, the identified application static data isconverted into a reusable Data Brick 101 that can be concurrentlyaccessed by multiple application programs very efficiently. As theidentified static data (of Data Brick 101) is loaded into the internalmemory of the application program, Data Brick 101 can be accessedefficiently with very little I/O and CPU cost. This system is alsoconfigured to improve the scalability and the throughput of the overallcomputing infrastructure. Moreover, this solution also reduces the batchjob elapsed time. The amount of reduction in the elapsed time depends onthe nature of work carried out by the batch job. For instance, if thebatch job was typically accessing static application data from a DB2table (database), then using Data Brick 101 could improve the elapsedtime up to 20%. This solution may be used in a Customer InformationControl System (CICS), and helping to reduce the response time of theapplication.

Referring to FIG. 2, an exemplary Data Brick 101 usage flow chart isdepicted. For instance, in step 210 data may be stored in a text recordof an object module of a Data Brick 101 for use by the system or aprogram. Data Brick 101 may be accessed via a procedure pointer. (step220) The Data Brick 101 may assign the copybook of a load module to theaddress of Data Brick 101. (step 230) This copybook may be loaded withthe data. (step 240).

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., Windows NT, Windows 95/98/2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista,Windows 7, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as well as variousconventional support software and drivers typically associated withcomputers. A user may include any individual, business, entity,government organization, software and/or hardware that interact with asystem.

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer) whichcommunicates via any network, for example such as those discussedherein. Such browser applications comprise Internet browsing softwareinstalled within a computing unit or a system to conduct onlinetransactions and/or communications. These computing units or systems maytake the form of a computer or set of computers, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks,hand held computers, personal digital assistants, set-top boxes,workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers, mini-computers, PCservers, pervasive computers, network sets of computers, personalcomputers, such as iPads, iMACs, and MacBooks, kiosks, terminals, pointof sale (POS) devices and/or terminals, televisions, or any other devicecapable of receiving data over a network. A web-client may run MicrosoftInternet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or anyother of the myriad software packages available for browsing theinternet.

Practitioners will appreciate that a web client may or may not be indirect contact with an application server. For example, a web client mayaccess the services of an application server through another serverand/or hardware component, which may have a direct or indirectconnection to an Internet server. For example, a web client maycommunicate with an application server via a load balancer. In variousembodiments, access is through a network or the Internet through acommercially-available web-browser software package.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web client includes anoperating system (e.g., Windows NT, 95/98/2000/CE/Mobile, OS2, UNIX,Linux, Solaris, MacOS, PalmOS, etc.) as well as various conventionalsupport software and drivers typically associated with computers. A webclient may include any suitable personal computer, network computer,workstation, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, smart phone,minicomputer, mainframe or the like. A web client can be in a home orbusiness environment with access to a network. In various embodiments,access is through a network or the Internet through a commerciallyavailable web-browser software package. A web client may implementsecurity protocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and TransportLayer Security (TLS). A web client may implement several applicationlayer protocols including http, https, ftp, and sftp.

In various embodiments, various components, modules, and/or engines ofsystem 100 may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps.Micro-apps are typically deployed in the context of a mobile operatingsystem, including for example, a Palm mobile operating system, a Windowsmobile operating system, an Android Operating System, Apple iOS, aBlackberry operating system and the like. The micro-app may beconfigured to leverage the resources of the larger operating system andassociated hardware via a set of predetermined rules which govern theoperations of various operating systems and hardware resources. Forexample, where a micro-app desires to communicate with a device ornetwork other than the mobile device or mobile operating system, themicro-app may leverage the communication protocol of the operatingsystem and associated device hardware under the predetermined rules ofthe mobile operating system. Moreover, where the micro-app desires aninput from a user, the micro-app may be configured to request a responsefrom the operating system which monitors various hardware components andthen communicates a detected input from the hardware to the micro-app.

As used herein, the term “network” includes any cloud, cloud computingsystem or electronic communications system or method which incorporateshardware and/or software components. Communication among the parties maybe accomplished through any suitable communication channels, such as,for example, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet, Internet,point of interaction device (point of sale device, personal digitalassistant (e.g., iPhone®, Palm Pilot®, Blackberry®), cellular phone,kiosk, etc.), online communications, satellite communications, off-linecommunications, wireless communications, transponder communications,local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN), virtual privatenetwork (VPN), networked or linked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or anysuitable communication or data input modality. Moreover, although thesystem is frequently described herein as being implemented with TCP/IPcommunications protocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX,Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH),or any number of existing or future protocols. If the network is in thenature of a public network, such as the Internet, it may be advantageousto presume the network to be insecure and open to eavesdroppers.Specific information related to the protocols, standards, andapplication software utilized in connection with the Internet isgenerally known to those skilled in the art and, as such, need not bedetailed herein. See, for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS ANDPROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2 COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999);DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY, MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IPCLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997) and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THEDEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002), the contents of which are hereby incorporatedby reference.

The various system components may be independently, separately orcollectively suitably coupled to the network via data links whichincludes, for example, a connection to an Internet Service Provider(ISP) over the local loop as is typically used in connection withstandard modem communication, cable modem, Dish networks, ISDN, DigitalSubscriber Line (DSL), or various wireless communication methods, see,e.g., GILBERT HELD, UNDERSTANDING DATA COMMUNICATIONS (1996), which ishereby incorporated by reference. It is noted that the network may beimplemented as other types of networks, such as an interactivetelevision (ITV) network. Moreover, the system contemplates the use,sale or distribution of any goods, services or information over anynetwork having similar functionality described herein.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing athttp://csrc.nist.gov/groups/SNS/cloud-computing/cloud-def-v15.doc (lastvisited Feb. 4, 2011), which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

The system contemplates uses in association with web services, utilitycomputing, pervasive and individualized computing, security and identitysolutions, autonomic computing, cloud computing, commodity computing,mobility and wireless solutions, open source, biometrics, grid computingand/or mesh computing.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, or object-oriented structure and/or any other databaseconfigurations. Common database products that may be used to implementthe databases include DB2 by IBM (Armonk, N.Y.), various databaseproducts available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.),Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server by Microsoft Corporation(Redmond, Wash.), MySQL by MySQL AB (Uppsala, Sweden), or any othersuitable database product. Moreover, the databases may be organized inany suitable manner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Eachrecord may be a single file, a series of files, a linked series of datafields or any other data structure. Association of certain data may beaccomplished through any desired data association technique such asthose known or practiced in the art. For example, the association may beaccomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic associationtechniques may include, for example, a database search, a databasemerge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using a key field in the tables to speedsearches, sequential searches through all the tables and files, sortingrecords in the file according to a known order to simplify lookup,and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a databasemerge function, for example, using a “key field” in pre-selecteddatabases or data sectors. Various database tuning steps arecontemplated to optimize database performance. For example, frequentlyused files such as indexes may be placed on separate file systems toreduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with various embodiments, any suitable data storagetechnique may be utilized to store data without a standard format. Datasets may be stored using any suitable technique, including, for example,storing individual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure;implementing a domain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposesone or more elementary files containing one or more data sets; usingdata sets stored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system;data sets stored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped dataelements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungroupeddata elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) asin ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that mayinclude fractal compression methods, image compression methods, etc.

In various embodiments, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored on the financial transaction instrument orexternal to but affiliated with the financial transaction instrument.The BLOB method may store data sets as ungrouped data elements formattedas a block of binary via a fixed memory offset using either fixedstorage allocation, circular queue techniques, or best practices withrespect to memory management (e.g., paged memory, least recently used,etc.). By using BLOB methods, the ability to store various data setsthat have different formats facilitates the storage of data associatedwith the financial transaction instrument by multiple and unrelatedowners of the data sets. For example, a first data set which may bestored may be provided by a first party, a second data set which may bestored may be provided by an unrelated second party, and yet a thirddata set which may be stored, may be provided by an third partyunrelated to the first and second party. Each of these three exemplarydata sets may contain different information that is stored usingdifferent data storage formats and/or techniques. Further, each data setmay contain subsets of data that also may be distinct from othersubsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments, the data can be stored withoutregard to a common format. However, in various embodiments, the data set(e.g., BLOB) may be annotated in a standard manner when provided formanipulating the data onto the financial transaction instrument. Theannotation may comprise a short header, trailer, or other appropriateindicator related to each data set that is configured to conveyinformation useful in managing the various data sets. For example, theannotation may be called a “condition header”, “header”, “trailer”, or“status”, herein, and may comprise an indication of the status of thedata set or may include an identifier correlated to a specific issuer orowner of the data. In one example, the first three bytes of each dataset BLOB may be configured or configurable to indicate the status ofthat particular data set; e.g., LOADED, INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED,REMOVABLE, or DELETED. Subsequent bytes of data may be used to indicatefor example, the identity of the issuer, user, transaction/membershipaccount identifier or the like. Each of these condition annotations arefurther discussed herein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainindividuals, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, merchant, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Encryption may be performed by way of any of the techniques nowavailable in the art or which may become available—e.g., Twofish, RSA,El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI, and symmetric and asymmetriccryptosystems.

The computing unit of the web client may be further equipped with anInternet browser connected to the Internet or an intranet using standarddial-up, cable, DSL or any other Internet protocol known in the art.Transactions originating at a web client may pass through a firewall inorder to prevent unauthorized access from users of other networks.Further, additional firewalls may be deployed between the varyingcomponents of CMS to further enhance security.

Firewall may include any hardware and/or software suitably configured toprotect CMS components and/or enterprise computing resources from usersof other networks. Further, a firewall may be configured to limit orrestrict access to various systems and components behind the firewallfor web clients connecting through a web server. Firewall may reside invarying configurations including Stateful Inspection, Proxy based,access control lists, and Packet Filtering among others. Firewall may beintegrated within an web server or any other CMS components or mayfurther reside as a separate entity. A firewall may implement networkaddress translation (“NAT”) and/or network address port translation(“NAPT”). A firewall may accommodate various tunneling protocols tofacilitate secure communications, such as those used in virtual privatenetworking. A firewall may implement a demilitarized zone (“DMZ”) tofacilitate communications with a public network such as the Internet. Afirewall may be integrated as software within an Internet server, anyother application server components or may reside within anothercomputing device or may take the form of a standalone hardwarecomponent.

The computers discussed herein may provide a suitable website or otherInternet-based graphical user interface which is accessible by users. Invarious embodiments, the Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS),Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS), and Microsoft SQL Server, are usedin conjunction with the Microsoft operating system, Microsoft NT webserver software, a Microsoft SQL Server database system, and a MicrosoftCommerce Server. Additionally, components such as Access or MicrosoftSQL Server, Oracle, Sybase, Informix MySQL, Interbase, etc., may be usedto provide an Active Data Object (ADO) compliant database managementsystem. In various embodiments, the Apache web server is used inconjunction with a Linux operating system, a MySQL database, and thePerl, PHP, and/or Python programming languages.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, Java applets, JavaScript, activeserver pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI), extensiblemarkup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), AJAX(Asynchronous Javascript And XML), helper applications, plug-ins, andthe like. A server may include a web service that receives a requestfrom a web server, the request including a URL(http://yahoo.com/stockquotes/ge) and an IP address (123.56.789.234).The web server retrieves the appropriate web pages and sends the data orapplications for the web pages to the IP address. Web services areapplications that are capable of interacting with other applicationsover a communications means, such as the internet. Web services aretypically based on standards or protocols such as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDLand UDDI. Web services methods are well known in the art, and arecovered in many standard texts. See, e.g., ALEX NGHIEM, IT WEB SERVICES:A ROADMAP FOR THE ENTERPRISE (2003), hereby incorporated by reference.

Middleware may include any hardware and/or software suitably configuredto facilitate communications and/or process transactions betweendisparate computing systems. Middleware components are commerciallyavailable and known in the art. Middleware may be implemented throughcommercially available hardware and/or software, through custom hardwareand/or software components, or through a combination thereof. Middlewaremay reside in a variety of configurations and may exist as a standalonesystem or may be a software component residing on the Internet server.Middleware may be configured to process transactions between the variouscomponents of an application server and any number of internal orexternal systems for any of the purposes disclosed herein. WebSphereMQTM (formerly MQSeries) by IBM, Inc. (Armonk, N.Y.) is an example of acommercially available middleware product. An Enterprise Service Bus(“ESB”) application is another example of middleware.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, VBScript,Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, Microsoft Active Server Pages, assembly,PERL, PHP, awk, Python, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures, PL/SQL, anyUNIX shell script, and extensible markup language (XML) with the variousalgorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, itshould be noted that the system may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. Still further, the system could be used to detector prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, suchas JavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The system and method is described herein with reference to blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (e.g.,systems), and computer program products according to variousembodiments. It will be understood that each functional block of theblock diagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations offunctional blocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations,respectively, can be implemented by computer program instructions.

Referring now to the Figures the process flows depicted are merelyembodiments and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.For example, the steps recited in any of the method or processdescriptions may be executed in any order and are not limited to theorder presented.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc. Practitionerswill appreciate that the illustrated steps described herein may comprisein any number of configurations including the use of windows, webpages,web forms, popup windows, prompts and the like. It should be furtherappreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated and described may becombined into single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded forthe sake of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and describedas single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/orwindows but have been combined for simplicity.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in various embodiments, B alone may be present in anembodiment, C alone may be present in an embodiment, or that anycombination of the elements A, B and C may be present in a singleembodiment; for example, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C.Although the disclosure includes a method, it is contemplated that itmay be embodied as computer program instructions on a tangiblecomputer-readable carrier, such as a magnetic or optical memory or amagnetic or optical disk. All structural, chemical, and functionalequivalents to the elements of the above-described exemplary embodimentsthat are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or methodto address each and every problem sought to be solved by the presentdisclosure, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore,no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether theelement, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims.No claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for.” As used herein, the terms “comprises”,“comprising”, or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover anon-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, orapparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only thoseelements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherentto such process, method, article, or apparatus.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” should beconstrued to exclude only those types of transitory computer-readablemedia which were found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope ofpatentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a processor; memoryhaving instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by theprocessor, cause the system to perform operations comprising:retrieving, by a program, static data stored in a dataset from adatabase; prior to invoking a linker, creating, by the program, a filehaving a layout that is the same as a layout of a COBOL object module,wherein the program is not a compiler, wherein the file created by theprogram includes 1) a header record indicating a name associated withthe file, 2) a set of contiguous records that include the static data,and 3) a trailer record indicating record count information; invoking,by the program, the linker via a link edit command that produces a loadmodule from the file; and providing the load module to an applicationthat specifies a pointer associated with the load module, wherein theload module is provided such that the static data included in the fileis accessible to the application.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theproviding includes inserting data of the load module into a linkagesection of the application.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theinstructions include instructions of the application, and wherein theapplication does not invoke an open command, a read command, or a closecommand to access the static data.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein theprogram is a Job Control Language (JCL) script.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the operations further comprise: providing the load module toa plurality of applications such that the load module is concurrentlyaccessible by the plurality of applications.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the database implements Database 2(DB2).
 7. The system of claim1, wherein the operations further comprise: storing the load module inan application load library accessible to the linker.
 8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the providing uses a copybook associated with the loadmodule.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the application is a COBOLapplication, and wherein the operations further comprise executing theCOBOL application.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the static data isretrieved from a plurality of files by the program.
 11. A non-transitorycomputer readable medium having program instructions stored thereon,wherein the program instructions are executable by a computer system tocause the computer system perform operations comprising: reading staticdata from a database source; prior to invoking a linker, writing anoutput file via a program other than a COBOL compiler, wherein theoutput file has a layout that is the same as a layout of a COBOL objectmodule created by the compiler, wherein the output file includes 1) aheader record indicating a name associated with the output file, 2) aset of contiguous records that include the static data, and 3) a trailerrecord indicating record count information; and invoking the linker thataccesses the written output file and inserts the static data into alinkage section of an application such that the static data isaccessible to the application upon execution.
 12. The computer readablemedium of claim 11, wherein the program instructions implement a JobControl Language (JCL) script that performs the reading, writing, andinvoking.